From pearl-white to colourful psych … the 1965 Porsche once owned by Janis Joplin.
Photograph: Reuters

Janis Joplin may have sung “my friends all drive Porsches”, but the blues and soul singer owned one of the cars herself. The pearl-white 1965 Porsche 365c 1600 cabriolet, which Joplin bought secondhand in 1968 and owned until her death in October 1970, is headed for auction at RM Sotheby’s in New York in December. It has been parked at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland for the last 20 years.

The car is due to be sold by Joplin’s family, and is expected to bring in more than £260,700 ($400,000). One of the singer’s friends painted a psychedelic mural onto the car – and according to Joplin legend, the customised paint job rendered the Porsche so recognisable that an attempt to steal it in 1969 and disguise it with grey spray paint was easily thwarted.

Watch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s video about the brief history of Janis Joplin’s Porsche

“Like most people and their car of choice, her Porsche is a direct link to Janis,” said Michael Joplin, the singer’s brother. “She drove it everywhere … with the top down and her feathers flying. Her music, life and car are a part of rock’n’roll history.”

The car has been restored more than once over the years, most notably in the 1990s. It is set to go under the hammer on 10 December.